White: Caramelized Coconut Budino

It seems this summer, all I needed to serve for dinner has been whatever is local and luscious, like fruit with something sweet or carb-loaded. With the sweet strawberries in June, it was ice cream and-or whipped cream with biscuits or pound cake. In July it was plum tarts and-or whipped cream or ice cream. This month, the peaches are positively gorgeous and, once again, biscuits or crumb topping with, you got it, ice cream or whipped cream.

A couple of weeks ago, when friends asked if I'd like to see "Carousel" at the Goodspeed, and did I have someone I would like to go with me, I called my friend Ralph (his partner is a MRI tech at Yale, who usually works the four-to-midnight shift at Yale). He said he'd love to go. As before, when he and Richard took me to see "Mame," I said I'd do dinner at my house before the theater. For dessert, I decided to make grilled peaches (with just a teaspoon or so of brown sugar), accompanied by a scoop of sorbet.

But when I was asked to go to friends' house for a pasta lunch, and the pasta made from scratch by Eugenia with black flour she had brought home from her own villa in Italy, wheat that had been picked from an field that had been "scorched," I knew I had to make something a little more interesting, perhaps with an Italian twist.

I am not a great fan of flan, or custard in general, but this recipe is one terrific dish, perhaps because it also uses toasted coconut. It reminds me a very simple recipe my eldest niece showed me to make when she was in middle school, made with a bunch of ingredients, whirled in a blender, poured into a pie plate and baked, after which the Bisquick creates its own crust. This recipe is much more elegant and is a real show-stopper.

Caramelized Coconut Budino

Adapted from "More Cooking in the Wine Country" by Joanne Weir (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001)

Yield: Serves 8

2 1/2 (one-half) cups very finely grated sweetened coconut

2 cups sugar, divided

8 eggs

3 cups whole milk

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Have ready an 8-inch round cake pan and a larger one in which to place the 8-inch cake pan.

Place coconut on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until light golden, tossing occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly. Place in food processor and pulse until finely ground. Reserve. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.

In a large, heavy stainless-steel frying pan, melt 1 cup of the sugar over medium heat. Do not stir with a spoon; instead, swirl the pan to melt the sugar uniformly. Cook until sugar starts to turn golden brown. Immediate remove the pan from the heat and pour mixture into the 8-inch round cake pan, turning the pan so the caramel coats the bottom and sides. Set it aside.

Whisk eggs together in a bowl. Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar, the milk, coconut and flour and stir together until well mixed.

Remove can pan from the larger pan and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then invert the coconut budino onto a serving plate and serve.

Pour coconut mixture into the caramel-lined, pan, and place in a larger pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake in the oven until set and a skewer goes into the center and comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes.

Remove can pan from the larger pan and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then invert the coconut budino onto a serving plate and serve.